N435r 


UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SCHOOL  OF  LAW 
LIBRARY 


!  of  K?ramdittflSi 

<<^  *7 


BAR  ASSOCIATION 


CITY    OF    NEW    YORK. 


2Cet» 

DOUGLAS    TAYLOR'S    COMMERCIAL     PRINTING    HOUSE. 
OOR.    PULTON    AND   NASSAU    SPREETS. 

1870. 


fa  op  1k  G^«fr  Neu> 

0f 


OF   THE 


BAR  ASSOCIATION 


OF  THE 


Neto  fork : 

DUGLAS    TAYLOE'S    COMMERCIAL    PRINTING    HOUSE, 
COB.   FULTON   AND  NASSAU   STREETS. 

1870. 


Nl433 


TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BAR  OF  THE 
CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 


Some  of  our  number  who  were  strongly  impressed  with 
the  importance  in  many  ways  of  having  our  profession  in 
this  city  organized  into  an  association,  having  conferred  to- 
gether at  intervals  during  the  past  year,  resolved  to  make  a 
beginning  towards  accomplishing  this  object.  A  short  form 
of  pledge  was  prepared  and  sent  to  a  number  of  gentlemen 
for  signature.  When  about  two  hundred  names  had  been 
secured,  it  was  thought  proper  to  call  the  signers  together 
for  conference,  and  the  result  of  their  meeting  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  committees  to  draft  a  constitution  and  to 
nominate  officers.  The  constitution  has  been  adopted,  and 
the  officers  provided  for  in  it  have  been  chosen,  and  what 
has  so  far  been  done  is  now  submitted  to  the  profession  at 
large,  with  the  earnest  hope  that  the  project  will  receive 
the  approval  of  every  lawyer  who  has  the  dignity  and  honor 
of  his  calling  at  heart,  and  who  feels  the  necessity  of  the 
harmonious  co-operation  of  an  upright  Bar  and  a  pure 
judiciary  in  the  administration  of  justice. 

ay  be  asked,  why  was  not  the  whole  body  of  the  pro- 
consulted  ?    Our  answer  is  that  such  a  course  seemed 
iticable.     No  one   had    authority  to   convene  a  gen- 
leeting  of  the  Bar.     Had  such  a  meeting  been  called, 


IV 

those  who  might  have  assembled  would  have  had  no 
more  authority  than  any  self-constituted  committee.  It  is 
always  necessary  in  such  enterprises  for  a  few  to  take  the 
first  steps.  They  naturally,  in  so  doing,  expose  themselves  to 
criticism,  and  must  rely  upon  the  integrity  of  their  motives 
and  the  wisdom  of  their  plans  for  their  justification.  The 
circular  was  sent  to  many  besides  those  who  signed  it. 
Some  delayed,  others  were  absent,  but  we  wish  to  assure  all 
that  there  was  no  intentional  avoidance  of  those  who  it  was 
thought  would  unite  with  us.  It  is  hoped,  therefore,  that 
any  who  may  feel  that  they  were  justly  entitled  to  be  con- 
sulted, will  consider  the  labor  of  seeing  personally  a  large 
number  of  individuals,  and  explaining  to  each  the  details  of 
unmatured  plans,  and  will  generously  overlook  any  apparent 
assumption  of  authority  on  our  part  in  view  of  the  import- 
ance of  the  object  proposed,  and  of  the  obvious  difficulties 
of  any  plan. 

In  this  spirit  it  is  also  hoped  that  they  will  accept  for  the 
present  the  constitution  now  submitted.  It  is  the  result  of 
much  discussion  and  consideration,  and  yet  may  seem  to 
many  quite  defective.  When  the  Association  shall  embrace 
a  larger  proportion  of  the  profession,  a  review  of  the  work 
will  naturally  take  place. 

It  may  seem  invidious  to  require  that  any  member  of  the 
Bar  should  submit  to  scrutiny  his  claims  to  membership  in 
such  an  association,  but  as  some  selection  is  indispensa- 
ble, no  other  plan  seemed  on  the  whole  so  unobjectionable 
as  to  constitute  a  committee  to  pass  upon  all  applications. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  character  of  the  gentlemen  who  com- 
pose this  committee,  and  the  large  number  of  negative  votes 


required  to  exclude  an  applicant,  will  furnish  an  assurance 
against  any  caprice  or  injustice  in  their  action. 

The  question  has  been  frequently  asked,  what  do  you  pro- 
pose, what  is  to  be  gained  by  joining  this  association  ?  We 
answer  that  our  immediate  object  is  simply  organization. 

It  seems  like  an  abdication  of  its  legitimate  position,  that 
the  Bar  of  the  City  of  New  York,  numbering  its  members 
by  thousands,  should  have  absolutely  no  organization  what- 
ever ;  that  its  influence  in  all  matters  affecting  either  its 
own  dignity  and  interests  as  a  profession,  or  the  general 
good  as  connected  with  the  advancement  of  jurisprudence  or 
reforms  in  the  administration  of  justice,  should  be  only  that 
divided  and  dispersed  influence  of  its  members,  which  from 
being  divided  and  dispersed,  goes  for  nothing.  When  its 
members  were  fewer  and  a  longer  probation  was  required 
for  admission  to  its  ranks,  the  traditions  of  the  profession 
served,  to  some  extent,  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  corporate 
organization.  But  since  1 846,  the  era  of  our  present  State 
Constitution,  events  affecting,  not  the  Bar  only,  but  the 
whole  fabric  of  public  and  social  life,  have  succeeded  each 
other  with  unparalleled  rapidity.  The  barriers  to  admis- 
sion to  the  Bar  have  been  substantially  removed  ;  the  dis- 
tinctions between  attorney,  solicitor  and  counsellor,  have 
been  obliterated  ;  the  judges  have  been  made  elective  by  the 
popular  voice  for  a  short  term  only,  and  a  system  thus  intro- 
duced which  has  necessarily  exposed  them  to  partizan 
influences. 

•uring  the  same  period  has  come  into  operation  a  new 
,em  of  procedure,  which  gives  to  the  judges  so  elected 
jer  discretionary  powers  than  ever  before,  and  a  patro- 
je  in  the  appointment  of  receivers  and  referees,  and  in  the 


VI 

granting  of  commissions  and  allowances,  the  exercise  of 
which  is  at  least  dangerous. 

With  these  changes,  more  immediately  affecting  our  pro- 
fession, have  come  during  the  same  period  the  discovery  of 
new  gold  fields,  the  immense  issues  of  paper  currency  during 
our  civil  war,  the  excitements,  the  social  vicissitudes  pro- 
duced by  that  conflict,  the  changes  in  measures  of  value,  the 
growth  of  corporate  enterprise,  the  increase  of  luxury  and 
the  social  demoralization  which  confront  us  on  every  side. 

What  has  been  the  effect  of  all  these  things  on  the  Bar  ? 
Many  say,  its  glory  and  dignity  are  gone,  that  it  has  ceased 
to  be  a  noble  profession  and  is  merely  a  trade  with  the  rest. 
We  do  not  admit  this  charge.  But  we  mean  to  come  together 
as  a  body,  to  look  the  question  fairly  in  the  face,  and  if  we 
find  that  we  have  been  tainted  by  the  influence  of  the  times 
to  undertake  ourselves  the  work  of  purification,  to  revive  a 
past  renown,  and  give  new  life  to  traditions  which  "we  be- 
lieve to  be  only  dormant,  not  extinct.  What  specially  is 
to  be  undertaken  ought  not  to  be  determined  by  the  few  who 
have  taken  the  lead  in  the  enterprise.  The  association  will 
itself,  after  mature  consideration,  decide  upon  its  own  action; 
but  lest  the  feeling  which  has  prompted  the  present  move- 
ment should,  after  its  first  impulse,  flicker  and  die  out,  it  is 
proposed  to  make  our  association  a  permanent  institution, 
to  procure  a  commodious  building  up  town,  and  to  establish 
in  it  a  well-appointed  law  library.  Having,  besides  this, 
rooms  for  consultation  and  social  intercourse,  we  feel  that 
we  shall  offer,  especially  to  the  younger  members  of  the  Bar, 
an  equivalent  at  least  for  the  expense  of  membership.  The 
larger  our  numbers,  the  more  readily  and  speedily  will  our 
purposes  be  accomplished.  With  five  hundred  members  our 


Vll 


pecuniary  success  would  be  assured,  and  we  have  encourage- 
ments that  voluntary  donations  will  at  once  enable  us  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  library  that  will  soon  become  the  pride 
of  our  Bar.  We  work  not  for  ourselves  only,  but  for  those 
who  are  to  come  after  us,  and  we  are  confident  that  the 
spirit  of  our  profession  once  aroused,  we  can  do  all  that  we 
require. 

We  have  not  been  unmindful  of  our  brethren  in  the  other 
portions  of  the  State.  We  could  not  imperil  our  own  immediate 
objects  by  undertaking  a  more  general  organization,  but  we 
look  forward  to  the  forming  of  similar  associations  in  other 
cities  and  counties,  with  which  we  hope  to  be  affiliated,  and 
if  from  them  may  grow  an  Association  of  the  Bar  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  worthy  of  the  past  history  of  that  Bar, 
powerful  by  its  intelligence  and  learning,  and  influential  by 
its  integrity  and  patriotism,  the  benefits  of  such  an  associa- 
tion, not  only  to  ourselves,  but  to  the  entire  commonwealth, 
can  hardly  be  overestimated. 


WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS, 
HENRY  NICOLL, 
HAMILTON  W.  ROBINSON, 
AUGUSTUS  F.  SMITH, 
WILLIAM  E.  CURTIS, 
WILLIAM  C.  BARRETT, 
JAMES  EMOTT, 
CHARLES  A.  RAPALLO, 


HENRY  A.  TALLER, 
STEPHEN  P.  NASH, 
SAMUEL  B.  GARVIN, 
SIDNEY  WEBSTER, 
JAMES  C.  CARTER, 
JOHN  E.  PARSONS, 
WILLIAM  G.  CHOATE, 
FRANCIS  C.  BARLOW, 

Executive  Committee. 


BAR    MEETING. 


Tuesday,  February  1,  18?0- 


At  8  o'clock,  Mr.  ALBERT  MATTHEWS  called  the  meeting 
to  order  and  said  : 

REMARKS  OF  ALBERT  MATTHEWS,  Esq. 

The  Bar  of  this  City,  by  the  last  printed  list  (which  is 
contained  in  Gould's  Lawyer's  Diary  of  the  present  year), 
is  composed  of  about  four  thousand  members.  Except  the 
"  Law  Institute,"  which  is,  practically,  nothing  but  a  con- 
sulting library,  open  during  the  business  hours  of  the  day, 
there  is  no  organization  in  the  legal  profession ;  or,  at  least, 
none  which  is  generally  known.  During  the  last  year, 
however,  about  two  hundred  members  of  the  New  York 
Bar  (jnost  of  whom  are  now  present),  have  united  in  forming 
an  Association,  by  written  articles  (which  I  have  before 
me),  united,  I  say,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  legal 
profession  in  this  City. 

As  I  understand  it,  the  object  of  this  NEW  YORK  BAR 
ASSOCIATION  is,  by  the  cultivation  of  more  intimate  relations 
among  its  members,  to  put  and  maintain  the  legal  profession 
in  its  proper  position  in  this  community,  and  thereby  to 
promote  those  public  interests  with  which  it  is  closely  allied. 
Having  that  object  in  view,  we  confidently  hope  and  believe 
that  all  right-minded  men,  both  in  the  profession  and  out  of 
it,  will  rejoice  to  see  this  organization  perfected  and  in  suc- 
cessful operation. 

The  members  of  this  Association  have  requested  Messrs. 


Carter,  Robinson,  and  myself  to  call  you  together,  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  you  to  take  such  measures  as 
you  may  think  proper  for  perfecting  this  organization,  in 
order  to  carry  out  the  design  expressed  in  these  articles, 
which  we  have  all  signed.  To  that  end  we  have  called  you 
together  to-night ;  and,  in  order  to  put  this  matter  in 
motion,  I  will  now  nominate  Mr.  EDGAR  S.  VAN  WINKLE 
as  Chairman  of  this  meeting. 

Mr.  HENEY  NICOLL  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  car- 
ried unanimously. 

Mr.  S.  P.  NASH  nominated  for  Secretaries  of  the  meeting 
Messrs.  Grosvenor,  P.  Lowry  and  John  E.  Parsons  ;  who 
were  also  elected  unanimously. 

Mr.  LOWRY  read  the  call  for  the  meeting,  as  follows  : 

The  undersigned  Members  of  the  Bar  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  believing  that  the  organized  action  and  influence  of  the 
Legal  Profession,  properly  exerted,  would  lead  to  the  creation 
of  more  intimate  relations  between  its  members  than  now  exist, 
and  would,  at  the  same  time,  sustain  the  profession  in  its  proper 
position  in  the  community,  and  thereby  enable  it,  in  many 
ways,  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  public,  do  hereby  mutually 
agree  to  unite  in  forming  an  Association  for  such  purposes. 

And  we  do  hereby  appoint  Messrs.  James  C.  Carter,  Albert 
Matthews  and  Edmund  Randolph  Robinson,  a  committee  to  call 
a  meeting  of  the  subscribers  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be 
designated  by  said  committee,  at  which  meeting  measures  shall 
be  taken  for  the  organization  of  the  proposed  Association. 

New  York,  December,  1869. 

Wm.  M.  Evarts.  Waldo  Hutchins. 

Henry  Nicoll.  Lucien  Birdseye. 

William  Allen  Butler.  Charles  P  Crosby. 

John  K.  Porter.  Benjamin  K.  Phelps. 

A.  J.  Vanderpoel.  Abm.  R.  Lawrence,  Jr. 

C.  Van  Santvoord.  Charles  Coudert,  Jr. 
Thos.  C.  T.  Buckley.  L.  L.  Coudert. 

D.  P.  Eaton.  John  Erving. 
A.  Underbill.  John  H.  Platt 
D.  D.  Lord.  S.  J.  Tilden. 


F.  N.  Bangs. 
Henry  H.  Anderson. 
Edwards  Pierrepont. 
E.  H.  Owen. 
H.  M.  Alexander. 
Ashbel  Green. 
Wm.  M.  Prichard. 
Wm.  G.  Choate. 
Rich.  S.  Emmet. 
Clarkson  N.  Potter. 
Thos.  H.  Rodman. 

B.  F.  Dunning. 
John  J.  Town  send. 
Sidney  Webster. 

C.  A.  Seward. 
Charles  M.  Da  Costa. 
Aug.  F.  Smith. 
Luthei-  R.  Marsh. 
Joseph  H.  Choate. 
Chs.  F.  Southmayd. 
Charles  E.  Butler. 

S.  P.  Nash. 
Samuel  E.  Lyon. 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Jr. 
David  Dudley  Field. 
E.  W.  Stoughton. 
James  Emott. 
Benj.  D.  Silliman. 
John  Slosson. 
Charles  A.  Peabody. 
E.  Louis  Lowe. 
George  N".  Titus. 
John  P.  Crosby. 
Albon  P.  Man. 
John  E.  Parsons. 

E.  C.  Benedict. 
J.  S.  Bosworth. 
Edgar  S.  Van  Winkle. 
G.  M.  Speir. 

Henry  A.  Cram. 

F.  F.  Marbury. 
Wm.  E.  Curtis. 
Murray  Hoffman. 
Hamilton  W.  Robinson. 
J.  E.  Bun-ill. 

J.  W.  Gerard,  Jr. 
Alvin  C.  Bradley. 
George  T.  Strong. 
William  Betts. 


H.  M.  Ruggles. 

Everett  P.  Wheeler. 

Charles  A.  Rapallo. 

Charles  P.  Kirkland. 

W.  W.  Macfarlane. 

Charles  A.  Davison. 

F.  R.  Coudert. 

Charles  Jones. 

C.  J.  DeWitt. 

J.  Frederic  Kernochan. 

J.  W.  Edmonds. 

William  Hildredth  Field. 

Charles  H.  Glover. 

Buchanan  Winthrop. 

Frank   E.  Kernochan. 

Elial  F.  Hall. 

John  M.  Knox. 

Herbert  B.  Turner. 

Charles  P.  Kirkland,  Jr. 

John  McKeon. 

J.  W.  Ostrander. 

W.  A.  Ogden  Hegeman. 

William  Barrett. 

David  Thurston. 

William  Henry  Arnoux. 

Charles  C.  Jones,  Jr. 

Franklin  A.  Wilcox. 

Theodore  M.  Davis. 

Charles  D.  Ingersoll. 

Edmund  Randolph  Robinson. 

Henry  R.  Winthrop. 

Henry  Hilton. 

John  S.  Jenness. 

M.  Van  Buren  Wilcoxson. 

E.  L.  Fancher. 
Charles  F.  Sandford. 
John  Whipple. 

F.  S.  Stallknecht. 
Grosvenor  P.  Lowrey. 
Andrew  Stewart. 
Edward  Holland  Nicoll. 
Frederick  Smyth. 
Lyman  W.  Bates. 
James  S.  Huggins. 
John  Berry. 

F.  J.  Fithian. 
Edward  Patterson. 
E.  Ellery  Anderson. 
Jos,  B.  Lawrence. 


Charles  E.  Strong. 

A.  P.  Whitehead. 
T.  R.  Strong. 
Wm.  J.  Hoppin. 
Lewis  L.  Delafield. 
Charles  F.  Blake. 
Livingston  K.  Miller. 
Wm.  S.  Opdyke. 
John  E.  Ward. 
Charles  B.  Stoughton. 
Albert  Matthews. 
Flamen  B.  Candler. 
Philo  T.  Ruggles. 

B.  Roelker. 
William  Tracy. 
Ch.  Francis  Stone. 
George  Wales  Soren. 
George  M.  Miller. 
Wheeler  H.  Peckham. 
Theodore  W.  Dwight. 
Oscar  Smedberg. 
Henry  J.  Scudder. 
Townsend  Scudder. 
James  P.  Lowrey. 
Henry  D.  Sedgwick. 
Richard  H.  Bowne. 
Smith  Clift. 

G.  W.  Watson. 
Charles  D.  Burrill. 
Elbridge  T.  Gerry. 
Charles  Tracy. 
Charles  Edward  Tracy. 
J.  Evarts  Tracy. 
George  De  Forest  Lord. 
John  C.  Dimmick. 
J.  S.  Winter. 
Joshua  M.  Van  Cott. 
George  W.  Parsons. 
Hiram  Barney. 
John  Sherwood. 
Walter  L.  Livingston. 
Albert  Stickney. 
Henry  A.  Tailer. 
Alfred  L.  Edwards. 
Aug.  R.  Macdonough. 
W.  W.  Goodrich.   , 
S.  Merrihew. 
D.  C.  Van  Cott. 
Beverly  Robinson. 


George  C.  Barrett. 
Henry  R.  Beekman. 
Charles  B.  Moore. 
Noah  Davis. 
Julien  T.  Davies. 
Gerard  Beekman. 
J.  Slosson. 

Eugene  H  Pomeroy. 
Hamilton  Morton. 
Thomas  C.  Ingersoll. 
Richard  H.  Clarke. 
Frederick  Kapp. 
Edmund  Whetmore. 
C.  A.  Hand. 

F.  H.  Churchill. 
Henry  E.  Davies. 
R.  M.  Harrison. 
Robert  Sewell. 
E.  G.  Drake,  Jr. 
Henry  B.  Hammond. 
W.  Q.  Morton. 
Henry  Whittaker. 
Thomas  M.  Wheeler. 
Charles  E.  Whitehead. 
John  N.  Whiting. 

G.  M.  Ogden. 
Cadwallader  E.  Ogden. 
Robert  Benner. 
William  Betts. 

John  J.  Townsend. 
John  S.  Davenport. 
John  J.  Latting. 
John  L.  Cadwallader. 
Edward  H.  Anderson. 
Charles  Nettleton. 
John  A.  Foster. 
Smith  E.  Lane. 
Thomas  E.  Stillman. 
Thomas  H.  Hubbard. 
Morris  S.  Miller. 
John  G.  Vose. 
Dwight  H.  Olmsted. 
James  J.  Roosevelt. 
Frederick  E.  Mather. 
William  Watson. 
John  H.  Risley. 
C.  B.  Wheeler. 
E.  S.  Ketchum. 
J.  P.  Ketchum. 


William  Jay.  E.  Ketchum,  Jr. 

John  A.  Weeks.  John  Fitch. 

Hooper  C.  Van  Vorst.  Samuel  G.  Glassey. 

George  H.  Forster.  James  R.  Jessup. 

James  F.  Dwight.  Joseph  B.  Varnum. 

James  C.  Carter.  P.  W.  Turney. 

Jos.  Larocque.  Osborn  E.  Bright. 

W.  Stanley.  Benjamin  T.  Kissam. 

Francis  C.  Barlow.  Henry  P.  Townsend. 
Charles  H.  Hunt. 

REMARKS  OF  EDGAR  S.  VAN  WINKLE,  Esq.,  the  Chairman. 

GENTLEMEN  AND  FELLOW  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BAR, — We 
have  met  this  evening  in  pursuance  of  the  call  which  has 
just  been  read  to  you.  I  thank  you  for  the  honor  which 
you  have  done  me  in  appointing  me  to  preside  over  your 
deliberations  this  evening.  It  is  an  honor  which  is  peculi- 
arly gratifying  to  one  who,  like  myself,  has  never  sought 
for  distinction  outside  the  ranks  of  his  profession.  The 
paper  to  which  we  have  subscribed  our  names  expresses,  as 
I  understand  it,  the  motive  which  has  actuated  us  in  coming 
together,  and  the  objects  which  we  desire  to  attain.  The 
motive  is  found  in  "  the  belief  that  the  organized  action, 
and  influence  of  the  legal  profession,  properly  exerted, 
would  lead  to  the  creation  of  more  intimate  relations  be- 
tween its  members  than  now  exist."  The  objects  sought  to 
be  attained  are  also  expressed  in  the  call  in  a  concise  yet 
comprehensive  manner,  namely  :  "  sustaining  the  profession 
in  its  proper  position  in  the  community,  and  thereby  enabling 
it  in  many  ways  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  public." 

First,  then,  gentlemen,  let  me  say  a  word  or  two  upon  the 
organization  of  the  members  of  the  Bar  into  an  association, 
in  respect  to  which  the  Bar  of  New  York  has  hitherto  been 
sadly  deficient.  Some  of  the  public  papers  I  notice  have 
put  the  inquiry,  with  much  point,  why  the  members  of  the 
Bar  are  forming  an  organization  just  now, — as  if  there  was 
some  peculiarity,  something  extraordinary,  something  mys- 
terious in  the  proposed  organization.  If  they  had  asked  us, 
gentlemen,  why  the  Bar  had  not  done  this  thing  long  ago, 


6 


it  would  be  more  difficult  to  reply  to  the  question.  The 
Bar  of  New  York  owes  to  itself,  and  has  for  many  years 
owed  to  itself,  an  organization  similar  to  that  which  I  un- 
derstand is  now  contemplated.  In  organization  we  shall 
find  strength  and  a  force  and  power  which  no  individual 
action,  however  capable,  could  ever  attain.  It  seems  to 
me*  gentlemen,  that  while  we  are  entitled  to  this  organiza- 
tion, and  while  we  must  derive  from  it  a  great  strength  and 
a  concentrated  power,  there  will  not  be  any  need  of  ag- 
gressiveness of  action  on  our  part  towards  any  body  or  any 
person,  unless  it  be  that  passive  aggressiveness  which  a 
good  example  always  exercises  against  an  evil  example,  and 
that  silent  aggressiveness  which  a  principle  of  right  will 
exercise  over  a  principle  that  is  wrong.  [Applause.]  There 
will,  however,  be  in  such  an  organization  as  this,  when  pro- 
perly formed,  a  power  of  aggressiveness,  if  the  occasion 
arrives ;  and  at  all  times  the  organization,  if  not  aggressive, 
will  at  least  be  defensive.  Its  numbers  will  give  it  strength, 
and  their  united  opinions  and  influence  will,  I  am  sure,  be 
able  to  shield  its  members  individually  and  collectively  from 
all  wrong,  injury,  and  oppression.  [Applause.] 

Association  will  as  a  matter  of  course  produce  the  more 
intimate  relations  between  the  members  of  the  profession 
alluded  to  in  the  call;  and  if  among  our  objects  there  shall 
be,  as  I  know  there  must  be,  a  desire  to  maintain  a  high 
tone  in  the  legal  profession,  to  repress  all  dishonorable 
practices,  and  to  cultivate  a  laudable  ambition  and  emula- 
tion among  lawyers  ;  if  successful  in  attaining  these  objects, 
then  I  am  sure  we  shall  be  able  to  restore  the  legal  profes- 
sion to  its  proper  position  in  the  community — in  that  com- 
munity, of  which  we  are  the  advisers  and  the  counsellors ; 
we  can  restore  it  to  the  position  which  it  has  occupied  in 
the  past,  which  it  is  clearly  entitled  to  occupy  in  the  future, 
and  which  it  ought  to  occupy  in  the  present. 

I  will  not,  gentlemen,  detain  you  longer  from  the  business 
of  the  evening  except  by  a  few  words.  Upon  our  action 
and  deliberation,  upon  what  we  do  or  resolve  to  do  this 


evening,  will  depend  the  success  or  failure  of  this  organiza- 
tion. I  hope,  then,  that  in  laying  the  foundation  we  shall 
exercise  intelligence,  discretion,  moderation,  and,  above  all, 
the  utmost  forecast,  in  the  provisions  which  we  may  adopt. 
If  we  do  this  we  can  erect  a  solid,  a  stately,  and  a  useful 
edifice,  from  which  I  trust  we  shall  be  able  to  send  forth  a 
powerful  influence  in  favor  of  whatever  is  good,  of  whatever 
is  right,  of  whatever  is  honest,  and  of  whatever  is  honor- 
able. [Applause.] 

The  meeting  is  now  ready  to  proceed  to  business. 

Mr.  HENRY  NICOLL  :  I  beg  leave,  sir,  to  offer  the  follow- 
ing resolution : 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  nine  be  appointed  by  the 
Chair  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  a  suitable  Constitution 
and  By-laws  for  this  Association,  and  that  such  Committee 
report  at  the  next  meeting. 

The  resolution  was  seconded,  and  Mr.  NICOLL  spoke  upon 
it  as  follows : 

REMARKS  OF  HENRY  NICOLL,  Esq. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN — I  desire  to  address  a  few 
words  to  this  meeting  in  explanation  of  the  motives  and  ob- 
jects which  have  influenced  those  of  us  who  set  on  foot  the 
movement  for  this  organization,  which  it  is  proposed  this 
night  to  establish. 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  there  is  a  common  belief,  not 
only  among  ourselves,  but  among  all  classes  of  our  citizens, 
that  the  bar  of  this  city  fails  to  exercise  that  influence  which 
is  justly  due  to  it.  This  is  a  melancholy  fact ;  we  look  for 
the  causes  of  this  decline.  Where  are  they  to  be  found  ? 
Some  of  us  who,  perhaps,  are  of  a  more  despondent  nature, 
may  be  inclined  to  attribute  this  decline  of  the  profession 
to  a  general  demoralization  which  is  permeating,  as  they 
fancy,  the  very  vitals  of  society.  But  I  do  not  belong  to 
that  class.  I  believe  that  the  causes  of  this  decline  are 


8 


nearer  to  the  surface.  In  my  opinion  they  are  to  be  found 
among  ourselves.  I  believe  that  if  the  bar  should  be  anima- 
ted by  proper  sentiment  it  would  soon  regain  that  influence 
which,  it  is  painful  to  acknowledge,  has  been  lost.  [Ap- 
plause.] This  decline,  gentlemen,  has  been  insidious,  it  has 
been  steadily  going  on  for  more  than  twenty  years ;  it  has  at 
last  become  so  marked  that  we  cannot  become  indifferent  to 
it.  The  best  evidence  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  an 
effort  should  be  made  to  arrest  the  disease,  is  the  fact  that 
there  is  such  an  assembly  as  this  here  to-night.  [Applause.] 

The  most  prominent  of  the  causes  of  this  decline  is  to  be 
found  in  the  revolutionary  changes  made  in  our  condition 
by  the  Constitution  of  1846  !  That  Constitution,  under 
which  we  still  live,  gave  almost  a  death  blow  to  the  legal 
profession.  Disastrous  effects  could  not  but  flow  from 
the  organic  changes  made  by  that  instrument.  It  is  true 
they  were  not  at  first  realized.  We  went  along  submitting 
to  the  inevitable  tendency  of  things  without  perhaps  appre- 
ciating how  rapidly  we  were  drifting  down  the  current ;  but, 
gentlemen,  when  the  gates  of  the  Bar  were  thrown  entirely 
open;  when  those  honorable  distinctions  which  formerly  ex- 
isted in  the  profession  were  abolished ;  when  the  name  of 
counsellor  ceased  to  be  heard  in  the  land,  and  when  every 
man,  from  the  merest  tyro  to  the  greatest  and  most  renowned 
amongst  us,  was  put  upon  the  same  footing,  it  became  a  ne- 
cesary  result  that  without  some  link  which  should  connect 
and  bind  the  more  worthy  of  the  profession  together,  it  must 
accept  its  destiny  and  be  eventually  destroyed.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

The  diminished  influence  of  the  Bar,  it  is  true,  may  be 
due  also  in  some  measure  to  the  radical  change  which  has 
been  made  in  our  Judicial  System,  but  it  is  unnecessary  and 
it  may  be  improper  to  speak  of  that  now. 

We  are  here  simply  concerned  with  ourselves,  and  not 
with  the  Judiciary.  The  more  you  reflect  on  this  subject  the 
more  will  you  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  great  evil 
exists  in  the  fact  that  this  Bar  has  been  reduced  to  a  mere 


collection  of  individuals  without  class  or  rank — a  dull 
dreary  level  of  enforced  equality ;  perhaps  it  may  sound 
strange  in  a  democratic  community  to  talk  in  this  way, 
but  I  apprehend  that,  outside  of  political  rights  and  rela- 
tions, distinctions  must  exist  everywhere — they  are  necessary 
for  the  very  welfare  of  society.  [Applause.] 

We  have  come  together  to-night  to  endeavor  to  correct 
this  evil,  and  to  form  an  association  by  which  a  freer  inter- 
change of  ideas  and  more  intimate  relations  with  each  other 
may  be  promoted  among  the  Members  of  this  Bar,  and  to 
supply,  to  some  extent  at  least,  the  great  defect  in  our 
system  of  which  I  have  spoken.  It  is  in  that  spirit  that  the 
gentlemen  who  have  undertaken  to  organize  this  associa- 
tion are  here,  and  they  rely  upon  your  active  co-operation 
and  assistance  in  the  business.  [Applause.] 

Need  I  say  to  you  that  one  of  the  most  important  features 
of  this  remarkable  age  is  the  power  attained  and  the  great 
results  effected  by  association.  You  have  only  to  look  at 
our  telegraph  across  the  ocean  and  at  our  great  railroads 
which  span  the  continent,  to  see  what  may  be  accomplished 
by  combination.  You  will  find  that  the  great  Law  which 
originated  the  organizations  which  have  effected  such  as- 
tounding results  is  the  principal  of  association. 

All  classes,  all  professions,  save  that  of  the  Lawyer  have 
their  associations.  The  humblest  artizan  in  the  land  falls 
back  upon  his  trades-union  and  too  often  is  enabled  for  the 
time  to  bid  defiance  to  capital.  Why  is  it  that  we,  the 
most  important  class  in  the  community,  conservators  as  we 
are  of  Justice,  sworn  officers  of  the  Courts, — why  is  it  that 
we  are  as  incohesive  as  the  shifting  sands  of  the  ocean 
beach  ?  Shall  this  be  permitted  to  continue  ?  Can  we  not 
in  some  way  infuse  among  our  members  a  better  idea  of  their 
high  and  lofty  calling?  Can  we  not  create  an  organization 
through  which  the  profession  may  be  educated  up  to  a  fitting 
sense  of  its  grave  and  elevating  responsibilities,  and  of  the 
position  which  it  ought  to  occupy  in  this  community.  I 
need  not  dwell  upon  the  importance  and  dignity  of  the 
2 


10 


legal  profession  ;  we  all  know  that  there  can  be  no  more 
responsible  office  than  that  of  a  Lawyer,  and  that  if  you  have 
not  a  Bar,  and  let  me  say,  an  independent  Bar,  that  will 
stand  up  against  oppression  and  can  protect  the  weak  and 
the  defenceless,  society  will  dissolve  itself. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  know  that  there  may  be  much  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  the  special  objects  of  this  association ; 
I  fancy  that  there  are  not  a  few  who  will  perhaps  think  that 
it  is  formed  in  a  spirit  of  hostility — that  its  object  is  attack. 
I  hasten,  for  myself  and  every  other  gentleman  associated 
with  me,  to  deprecate  any  such  idea,  and  to  disavow  any 
such  intent.  This  Association  is  in  an  embryonic  state.  We 
are  weak.  We  associate  for  mutual  protection  and  assis- 
tance ;  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  assume  offensive  opera- 
tions. What  we  want  is  to  create  a  spirit  of  professional 
brotherhood,  to  create  in  the  members  of  our  profession  a 
regard  for  the  profession.  [Applause.]  When  we  shall 
have  done  that  we  shall  have  accomplished  everything. 
When  we  shall  have  brought  within  our  ranks,  as  I  confi- 
dently hope  we  shall  do,  all  that  is  intelligent,  all  that  is 
honest,  all  that  is  honorable  in  this  Profession,  when  we  shall 
number  our  members  by  thousands,  do  you  think  we  shall 
need  to  concern  ourselves  about  the  influence  which  this  As- 
sociation must  inevitably  acquire  ?  Fancy  all  the  intellect 
and  respectability  of  the  Bar  enrolled,  united  and  actuated 
by  a  common  purpose.  Who  can  limit  its  influence, — who 
will  dare  to  say  what  it  may  not  accomplish  ?  Let  me  tell 
you  that  this  profession,  when  thus  united,  thus  animated, 
will  be  able  at  least  to  protect  itself  from  aggression  come 
from  what  quarter  it  may.  [Applause.]  The  time  will 
assuredly  arrive  when  this  will  be  so  ;  but  we  are  not 
here  to-night  to  speak  of  what  may  hereafter  be  done  : 
we  are  simply  making  a  beginning.  If  we  can  but  induce 
our  brethren  to  enter  this  organization  and  to  co-operate 
zealously  in  building  it  up,  the  future  will  take  care  of 
itself. 

Gentlemen,  it  is  singular  that  there  never  should  have 


11 


been  any  association  of  this  Bar  within  the  memory  of  its 
living  members.  Even  in  the  days  when  Kent  and  Spencer 
and  the  other  illustrious  men  who  adorned  our  Bench  were 
living;  when  the  great  names  of  Wells  and  Emmet,  and 
Ogden  and  Slosson,  and  the  many  others  which  will  readily 
occur  to  you,  shone  as  the  brilliant  lights  of  this  Bar,  there 
was  no  organized  Association  of  its  members  ;  but  we  know 
that  in  those  days  the  Bar  in  this  State  stood  as  high  as  the 
Bar  of  any  other  State  or  Country.  And  why  ?  Because  the 
individual  lustre  of  its  leaders  gave  to  it  a  power  which 
was  irresistible.  Perhaps,  if  an  institution  like  this  which 
we  now  propose  to  form  had  existed  at  an  earlier  day,  it 
might  have  done  much  in  arresting  the  decline  which  we  all 
see  and  which  we  have  so  much  cause  to  deplore. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  and  it  may  not  be  known  to  you  all, 
that  more  than  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago  there  was  a  Bar 
Association  existing  in  full  vigor  in  this  City  of  New  York. 
We  have  no  trace  of  the  nature  of  that  organization.  His- 
tory has  not  busied  itself  with  what  perhaps  was  then  con- 
sidered a  little  thing.  We  know  not  who  were  the  members 
of  that  Association,  or  what  was  its  constitution  ;  but  one 
thing  we  do  know — we  know  what  it  did. 

In  the  year  1763,  when  Lieutenant- Governor  Colden  was 
administering  the  affairs  of  this  colony,  being  ambitious  of  ex- 
tending the  prerogatives  of  the  Crown,  he  fancied  that  under 
the  instructions  he  had  received  from  the  Home  Government, 
a  right  was  given  to  him,  with  his  council,  to  review  upon 
appeal  the  findings  of  a  jury  upon  questions  of  fact.  Before 
that  time  the  same  rule  prevailed  here  which  obtained  in  the 
parent  country,  that  is,  that  a  writ  of  error  was  the  only 
way  of  reviewing  a  common  law  judgment,  and  that  upon 
that  writ  no  questions  but  those  of  law  could  be  brought 
up.  But  the  Governor,  ambitious  of  exercising  this  con- 
trol, determined  to  issue  a  writ  of  appeal  upon  a  common 
law  judgment,  for  the  purpose  of  reviewing  the  decision  of 
a  jury.  The  writ  was  sealed  by  him ;  but,  gentlemen,  to 
the  credit  of  the  legal  profession  of  that  day,  not  one  soli- 


12 


tary  lawyer  could  be  found  who  would  argue  that  appeal ! 
[Applause.]  The  Colonial  Governor,  as  you  may  suppose, 
denounced  the  New  York  Bar,  and  in  a  letter  to  the  Home 
Government  he  speaks  of  this  Bar  Association,  which,  as  he 
said,  had  been  formed  about  1747,  as  exercising  a  most  dan- 
gerous control  and  influence  in  the  City  of  New  York. 
That  was  the  New  York  Bar  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years  ago !  Gentlemen,  have  we  lost  all  the  spirit  of  our 
forefathers  ?  Now  come  down  with  me  three  years  further. 
In  the  year  1766,  as  you  all  know,  the  British  Government 
commenced  its  course  of  tyranny  over  this  country  by  its 
first  Stamp  Act.  You  know,  as  a  matter  of  history,  that  the 
passage  of  that  act  was  received  with  a  storm  of  indignation 
in  every  one  of  these  thirteen  Colonies ;  but,  gentlemen,  do 
you  know  that  there  was  no  place  in  the  whole  country 
where  the  resistance  to  this  odious  measure  was  more 
determined  and  effectual  than  in  this  city  of  New  York  ? 
When  the  vessel,  which  brought  the  stamped  paper  here,  ar- 
rived, such  was  the  excitement  of  the  people  that  her  officers 
were  obliged  to  anchor  her  under  the  guns  of  a  frigate ; 
when  the  packages  of  stamped  paper  were  taken  from  the 
vessel,  the  demonstrations  of  hostility  were  so  great  that  the 
Governor  was  forced  to  consent  that  he  would  not  put  the 
law  in  operation,  and  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  surrender  the 
stamped  paper  to  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  this  city. 
Now,  gentlemen,  who  was  it  who  organized  and  marshalled 
this  resistance  ?  I  am  proud  to  say  it  was  this  same  Bar  As- 
sociation. The  Governor  had  denounced  it  in  vain  three 
years  before,  but  now  on  a  vastly  larger  theatre  of  action, 
it  proved  itself  to  be  equal  to  the  emergency.  You  know, 
as  matter  of  history,  that  the  Crown  was  foiled  in  this  its 
first  attempt,  and  reluctantly  repealed  the  stamp  law,  but 
the  Governor,  disheartened  by  failure,  demanded  of  the 
Home  Government  that  measures  should  be  at  once  taken  to 
diminish  the  influence  of  the  lawyers  in  the  affairs  of  this 
Colony.  What  comfort  should  this  be  to  all  of  us  in  look- 
ing back  upon  what  our  forefathers  did  ;  and  when  any  of 


13 


my  friends — as  too  many  of  them  do — shrug  their  shoulders 
in  the  very  bitterness  of  despair,  and  say  that  nothing  can 
be  done  but  turn  on  our  backs  and  die,  I  ask  them  to  re- 
member what  the  Bar  of  these  early  days  achieved.  What 
they  did,  we,  too,  may  do.  And  when  this  organization, 
which  we  are  now  seeking  to  form,  shall  grow  in  strength, — 
when  it  shall  become  a  body  all  compact,  when  its  muscles, 
and  sinews,  and  nerves  shall  have  attained  their  full  vigor, 
— it  will  be  able  to  do  great  things  for  the  profession  and 
for  the  community. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  have  perhaps  detained  you  too  long 
with  these  general  remarks.  You  will  be  more  interested 
to  hear  something  from  me  of  what  we,  who  have  cheerfully 
undertaken  the  business  of  bringing  you  together,  have  con- 
sidered the  objects  to  be  attained  by  this  organization. 

We  desire  to  make  this  organization  such  that  every 
lawyer  in  this  city,  of  respectability,  who  desires  to  do  so, 
may  join  its  ranks.  We  propose  to  open  rooms  in  some 
convenient  locality,  and  to  supply  them  with  as  good  a 
library  as  our  funds  will  allow,  so  that  there  the  elder  and 
younger  members  of  the  profession  may  meet  during  the 
evenings,  and  at  other  times,  to  take  counsel  together  and 
talk  over  the  wants  of  the  profession,  and  where,  if  they 
have  occasion  to  study  their  causes,  they  shall  find  a  con- 
venient working  library.  Beyond  that,  we  have  not  yet 
ventured  to  advance  a  step.  Doubtless  many  of  you  here 
have  your  views  on  the  subject.  You  will  be  able  to  aid 
us  greatly  by  the  expression  of  your  ideas  as  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  Institution  should  be  established  and  carried 
on.  For  myself,  however,  I  confess  that  I  think  the  great 
object  that  overrides  every  other  is  to  get  our  organization. 
I  am  for  organization,  organization  ;  convinced,  that  with 
that  once  achieved,  we  may  safely  trust  that  all  that  we 
hope  to  accomplish  will  be  fulfilled  in  the  not  distant 
future.  [Great  applause.] 

The  Chair  then  offered  Mr.  Nicoll's  resolution  and  it  was 
adopted  unanimously. 


14 


REMARKS  OF  HON.  EDWARDS  PIERREPONT. 

I  think  we  shall  find,  gentlemen,  that  our  success  in  this 
movement  will  depend  entirely  upon  what  my  friend  has 
just  urged — organization  ;  and  the  kind  of  organization 
that  we  make  is  of  the  utmost  consequence.  If  we  start  in 
this  organization  wrong,  we  shall  be  likely  to  fail,  just  as 
a  government  that  starts  with  a  wrong  basis  of  government 
is  likely  to  fail ;  and  if  we  start  right,  we  shall  be  likely  to 
succeed.  I  do  not  believe  that  an  organization  of  this  kind 
will  amount  to  anything  if  it  is  formed  merely  for  the  pur- 
pose of  meeting  socially,  or  for  the  purpose  of  having  an 
occasional  dinner.  Unless  the  plan  which  this  committee 
shall  propose  shall  present  something  worthy  of  being  en- 
during, the  organization  will  not  endure ;  and  I  think  it 
will  depend,  more  than  would  at  first  seem,  upon  the  mode 
in  which  the  organization  is  formed.  I  do  not  believe  that 
anyone  who  has  never  thought  of  it  is  very  well  aware  of 
the  power  which  grows  out  of  combination.  If  you  will 
take  three  men  combined  together  and  go  across  the  Atlan- 
tic and  put  them  in  some  strange  place  in  Europe,  you  will 
find  that  those  three  men  have  each  a  very  far  increased 
influence  and  power,  more  than  the  three  would  have  sepa- 
rately. If  you  find  half  a  dozen  men  in  any  body  of  men, 
and  those  half  dozen  have  agreed  upon  anything,  they  will 
have  more  power  to  advance  their  plan  than  an  hundred 
would  have  without  organization.  It  is  just  as  true  in  our 
profession  as  it  is  true  in  war,  in  social  life,  and  in  politics. 
Such  was  the  power  which  the  South  had  at  one  time  in  the 
control  of  the  government.  Small  as  it  was,  yet  there  was 
a  perfect  and  complete  organization,  which  grew  out  of 
caste — a  class,  all  the  members  of  which  agreed,  and  in 
consequence  of  which  agreement,  they  were  able  to  control 
the  nation. 

If  the  organization  is  so  framed,  that  its  first  business  is 
to  control  itself,  and  allow  no  man  to  enter  or  remain  whose 
conduct  is  not  that  of  a  lawyer  and  a  gentleman,  we  shall 


15 


succeed.  Courage  will  be  required,  and  vigor  will  need  to 
be  exercised,  and  unworthy  men  must  be  excluded,  and,  if 
need  be,  ejected.  But,  if  it  is  an  organization  in  which  a 
man  may  remain  and  do  those  things  which  no  lawyer  ought 
to  do,  and  which  no  man  of  honor  would  do,  the  organiza- 
tion will  fail,  and  it  ought  to  fail. 

The  Bar  of  this  city  numbers  some  four  thousand 
members. 

Many  of  middle  age  and  past  are  rich.  No  combina- 
tion of  property  has  ever  been  made  by  the  Bar,  no  influence 
has  ever  been  attempted  for  good  in  that  direction.  What- 
ever of  Law  there  is,  has  been  scattered,  and  there  are  few 
lawyers  who,  at  some  time  in  their  lives,  have  not  felt  un- 
pleasantly at  the  way  in  which  they  were  put  off  by  the 
clerks  in  Banks,  when  they  needed  some  temporary  accom- 
modations. If  the  capital  of  lawyers  were  combined  and 
organized  as  is  that  of  other  classes  of  men,  the  young  law- 
yer might  better  reap  the  reward  of  his  good  character,  his 
uprightness,  and  his  industry. 

Does  any  man  doubt  that  if  you  combine  a  thousand  law- 
yers of  respectable  character  and  positio/i,  who  shall  meet 
together  frequently,  who  have  a  sentiment  in  common,  who 
have  a  desire  to  stand  well  with  the  organization,  and  who 
feel  the  influence  of  its  frown  and  the  pleasure  of  its  appro- 
val, they  will  have  a  power  that  would  exercise  an  influence 
in  Albany,  that  would  exercise  an  influence  in  this  city,  that 
would  exercise  an  influence  in  Washington,  that  would  ex- 
ercise an  influence  everywhere  over  the  entire  country  ? 
This  profession  of  ours  does  not  tolerate  idiots  in  its  ranks. 
The  successful  men  of  our  brotherhood  are  men  of  intelli- 
gence. They  are  men  of  character,  if  they  are  successful. 
Without  these  they  cannot  succeed  ;  and  if  there  is  an  or- 
ganization that  will  be  determined  to  protect  the  profession 
against  itself,  and  thus  command  the  respect  of  the  commu- 
nity— an  organization  which  shall  place  its  condemnation 
upon  those  of  its  members  who  misbehave,  it  certainly  will 
be  able  to  exercise  a  very  powerful  influence  in  correcting 


1(5 

others.  I  have  not  any  doubt  that  this  organization  which 
is  proposed,  will  be  able  to  bring  into  it  certainly  one-fourth 
of  the  Bar,  and  if  you  have  one-fourth  of  the  entire  Bar  of 
New  York  organized  together  in  this  way,  they  will  form  so 
large  and  influential  a  body  as  to  awaken  a  desire  in  all 
worthy  members  of  the  profession  to  join  us.  I  am  quite 
sure  that  all  who  arc  in  it  would  be  desirous  to  bring  in  ev- 
ery younger  man  who  is  a  fit  associate  for  them,  and  would 
do  what  they  could  to  encourage  him  in  the  course  of  honor 
and  success  in  that  noble  profession  to  which  we  are  all  so 
proud  to  belong.  The  time  was  in  this  country  when  law- 
yers were  by  far  the  most  powerful  class.  For  a  long  time 
they  ruled  this  country.  That  was  well  understood.  They 
ruled  the  Senate  at  Washington.  They  ruled  the  Cabinet  at 
Washington.  They  made  the  laws  which  governed  the  na- 
tion. They  were  at  that  time  a  powerful  and  honorable 
and  a  most  useful  and  influential  body  of  men.  They  ruled 
the  nation  well.  For  some  reason,  however,  other  organi- 
zations or  associations,  or  other  classes  of  people,  who  some- 
how combine  more  thoroughly  than  we  combine,  have  been 
able  to  take  our  place,  and  it  is  certainly  well  known  that 
at  present  lawyers  do  not,  relatively,  exercise  that  power 
in  the  making  of  laws  or  in  the  government  of  society  which 
they  once  did  ;  and,  therefore,  so  far  as  that  goes,  they  are 
not  as  useful  a  body  as  they  once  were.  The  fault  is  our 
own ;  we  have  been  found  wanting. 

Now,  there  is  something  very  remarkable  in  the  action  of 
this  association.  When  it  was  started  I  have  no  doubt  that 
many  said,  as  my  friend  Nicoll  has  remarked,  "  Nothing  can 
be  done  ;  how  is  it  possible  to  accomplish  anything  ?  How 
can  you  make  a  stand  against  this  tide  that  is  rolling  over 
the  country  ?"  1  know  there  was  much  of  that  feeling.  I 
was  a  sharer  in  it  myself. 

The  fact  that  the  feeling  was  so  general,  the  fact  that 
every  man  felt  that  there  was  danger,  the  fact  that  every 
honorable  member  of  the  Bar  was  beginning  to  feel  that  the 
honor  and  the  glory  and  the  power  and  the  good  influence 


17 


of  the  Bar  was  departing,  explains  the  reason  why  there 
was  such  a  ready  response  to  this  call,  which  has  brought 
nearly  every  one  of  the  two  hundred  to  this  meeting  to- 
night. In  this  respect  I  have  never  known  a  meeting  so  re- 
markable, where  on  a  single  notice,  they  all  appeared  and 
took  part  in  it.  [Applause.] 

REMARKS  OP  ME.  JAMES  EMOTT. 

Mr.  CHAIRMAN, — I  am  not  prepared  to  say  anyth'ng 
which  will  really  add  to  what  has  been  already  said.  But 
I  am  ready  to  express  my  concurrence  in  the  spirit  of  the 
remarks  which  have  been  made,  and  my  strong  sense  of  the 
importance  of  the  object  for  which  we  have  been  called  to- 
gether. I  think,  however,  that  this  is  not  the  time  for 
us  to  consider  or  at  least  to  discuss  what  are  to  be  the 
ultimate  results  of  such  an  association  as  we  propose  to 
form.  It  is  not  to  be  concealed  that  there  is  a  deep 
undercurrent  of  feeling  among  the  lawyers  who  have 
signed  this  call,  and  who  make  up  this  significant  meet- 
ing, upon  certain  subjects.  There  is  an  undertone  in  what 
has  been  said  which  it  would  require  but  little  to  bring 
into  distinct  utterance.  We  as  lawyers  feel  deeply  the 
complaints  which  are  rife  of  abuses  in  the  practice  of 
lawyers  and  in  the  administration  of  the  law.  But  I  do 
not  think  that  we  are  ready  now  and  here  to  give  utterance 
to  our  wishes.  There  may  be  differences  of  opinion  whether 
our  course  should  be  defensive  or  aggressive,  whether  we 
are  to  be  passive  or  active.  But  this  assemblage  indicates 
our  agreement  that  we  ought  to  associate,  to  organize,  in 
order  to  obtain  power, — the  power  which  comes  from  organ- 
izations. Power  is  the  thing  we  are  first  to  aim  at.  The 
use  of  it  we  are  to  determine  afterwards. 

I  think  I  can  express  the  idea  of  this  association,  and  the 
purposes  for  which  it  is  to  be  formed,  by  saying  that  we 
shall  aim  to  make  ourselves  once  more  a  profession.  [Ap- 
plause.] Twenty-five  years  ago  a  series  of  changes  were 
brought  in,  or  at  least  begun  by  the  Constitution  of  1846, 

3 


18 


of  which  my  friend,  Mr.  Nicoll,  speaks  feelingly,  because 
he  was  one  of  its  fathers. 

Mr.  HENRY  NICOLL — Spare  me  that.     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  EMOTT — That  Constitution  gave  us  the  elective  ju- 
diciary, of  which  I  am  not  even  to  speak.  But  it  brought 
another  change  quite  as  serious.  It  broke  down  the  Bar, 
and  destroyed  in  effect,  so  far  as  the  courts  and  the  laws 
were  concerned,  what  was  then  the  profession  of  the  law. 
We  have  become  simply  a  multitude  of  individuals,  engaged 
in  the  same  business.  And  the  objects  and  the  methods  of 
those  engaged  in  that  business  are  very  much  dictated  by 
those  who  employ  them.  It  is  not  altogether  just  to  hold 
lawyers  responsible  for  the  evils  in  the  administration  of 
law  of  which  the  public  complain.  They  are  and  do  simply 
what  their  employers  desire,  and  they  will  rise  no  higher,  if 
they  have  no  higher  standard.  So  the  judges  are  and  will 
be  just  what  those  who  really  make  them  wish  them  to  be. 
[Applause.] 

How  great  a  power  this  power  to  make  the  Judges  of  a 
country  is,  whether  in  responsible  or  irresponsible  hands, 
no  man  who  has  thought  at  all  upon  the  history  of  the  past, 
or  the  conditions  of  the  present,  is  ignorant.  In  this  country 
there  are  three  great  questions  looming  up  with  fearful  im- 
portance. One  is  the  Government  of  Municipalities.  Another 
is  the  question  of  Popular  Education.  With  these  we  have 
only  the  concern  of  all  citizens.  But  the  third  is  the  Judi- 
cial Administration  of  the  Country.  That  is  a  subject  in  res- 
pect to  which  we  shall  be  expected  and  required,  from  our 
training  and  our  pursuits,  to  think  and  to  act.  How,  as 
well  as  for  what  we  are  to  act,  are  matters  to  come  up  here- 
after. I  think  we  are  not  ready  to  discuss  them  now. 

There  is  one  reason,  to  which  I  will  rei'er,  why  this  present 
time  is  very  opportune  and  proper  for  the  organization  of 
the  Bar.  The  people  have  recently  adopted  a  modification 
or  amendment  of  the  judicial  system  of  the  State.  Of  the 
wisdom  of  this  partial  change  it  is  too  late  to  speak.  It  has 


19 


been  made  and  under  it  questions  are  rapidly  arising,  not 
merely  as  to  the  selection  of  men  for  the  important  offices  to 
be  filled,  but  in  respect  to  the  organization  and  working  of  the 
system  itself.  Upon  these  questions,  we  not  only  have  a 
right,  but  we  shall  be  expected  to  be  heard.  In  order  to 
speak,  to  exert  proper  influence,  we  need  to  be  organized. 
We  want  power  at  this  juncture,  and  we  can  only  have  it 
by  association.  As  a  profession  we  may  make  ourselves  felt 
even  now  in  the  settlement  of  the  question  which  this  crisis 
brings  upon  us,  and  upon  the  State, 

I  do  not  mean  that  we  are  prepared  this  evening  to  enter 
upon  any  discussion  of  any  proposed  reforms  or  reconstruc- 
tion. It  will  be  time  for  that,  so  far  as  we  personally  are 
concerned,  when  an  organization  has  been  completed,  and 
our  association  has  assumed  its  permanent  form.  When  we 
have  an  organized  Society  representing  the  profession  of  the 
law,  affording  advantages  and  possessing  a  character,  which 
will  make  it  desirable,  if  not  necessary,  for  every  worthy 
lawyer  in  this  City  to  belong  to  it,  we  shall  possess  a  power 
which  I  trust  will  be  felt,  and  not  a  tithe  of  which  can  be 
wielded  by  the  same  number  of  separate  individuals. 

It  will  not  involve  very  long  delay  to  await  such  an.  or- 
ganization, for  I  am  confident  that  the  gentlemen  who  have 
conducted  this  movement  so  successfully  to  its  present  point, 
will  speedily  develop  its  completion  in  outline,  if  not  in  de- 
tails That  will  enable  us  to  do  our  duty  and  contribute 
our  aid  to  the  settlement  of  great  public  questions,  not  only 
as  men  and  citizens,  but  as  members  of  a  profession  which 
we  all  delight  to  forward  and  to  advance.  [  Applause.  J 

REMARKS  OP  SAMUEL  J.  TILDEN,  Esq. 

My  friend  Mr.  Nicoll  has  just  come  across  to  me  to  insist 
that  I  should  say  something  here  to-night.  I  presume  his 
object  is  that  I  should  say  something  in  defence  of  that  judi- 
cial article  of  the  Constitution  of  1846.  He  probably  thinks 
that  I  have,  with  him,  a  common  interest  and  a  common  duty 


20 


in  that  respect';  but,  sir,  I  disclaim  every  interest  and  every 
duty  in  that  connection.  I  remember,  with  the  utmost  satis- 
faction that,  section  by  section,  in  every  part  and  in  the 
aggregate,  I  recorded  myself  against  the  whole  thing. 
[Applause.] 

Mr.  NICOLL — Do  me  the  same  justice. 

Mr.  TILDEN — I  don't  remember  what  my  friend  did.  I 
presume  he  did  what  was  right.  He  asks  me  to  do  him 
the  same  justice,  which  I  most  cheerfully  do. 

Sir,  I  came  here  to-night,  simply  because  when  this  call 
was  tendered  to  me  I  signed  it,  and  thought  it  a  duty,  hum- 
ble as  I  am,  to  testify  by  my  presence  here  my  sympathy 
and  my  approval  of  the  general  objects  for  which  we  have 
assembled.  I  do  not  quite  concur,  however,  in  some  of  the 
suggestions  that  have  been  made  here.  I  do  not,  I  mean, 
quite  concur  in  them  in  this — that  they  do  not  quite  express 
the  ideas  of  their  authors,  or  of  any  of  us. 

Sir,  I  should  be  not  unwilling  that  the  Bar  should  com- 
bine to  restore  any  power  or  influence  which  it  has  lost,  ex- 
cept such  power  and  influence  as  it  may  have  deservedly 
lost.  As  a  class,  as  a  portion  of  a  community,  I  do  not  de- 
sire to  see  the  Bar  combined,  except  for  two  objects.  The 
one  is  to  elevate  itself — to  elevate  its  own  standards ;  the 
other  object  is  for  the  common  and  public  good.  [Applause.] 
For  itself,  nothing ;  for  that  noble  and  generous  and  ele- 
vated profession  of  which  it  is  the  representative,  every- 
thing. [Great  applause.] 

Sir,  it  cannot  be  doubted — we  can  none  of  us  shut  our 
eyes  to  the  fact — that  there  has  been,  in  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century,  a  serious  decline  in  the  character,  in  the  training, 
in  the  education,  and  in  the  morality  of  our  Bar ;  and  the 
first  work  for  this  Association  to  do  is  to  elevate  the  pro- 
fession to  a  higher  and  a  better  standard.  [Applause.]  If 
the  Bar  ia  to  become  merely  a  method  of  making  money, 
making  it  in  the  most  convenient  way  possible,  but  making 
it  at  all  hazards,  then  the  Bar  is  degraded.  [Applause.]  If 


21 


the  Bar  is  to  be  merely  an  institution  that  seeks  to  win 
causes  and  to  win  them  by  back-door  access  to  the  judiciary, 
then  it  is  not  only  degraded,  but  it  is  corrupt.  [Great  ap- 
plause.] 

Sir,  I  am  as  peaceable  a  man  as  my  friend  Nicoll,  yet  I 
confess  that  his  words  of  peace  sounded  a  little  too  strongly 
in  my  ears.  The  Bar,  if  it  is  to  continue  to  exist— if  it 
would  restore  itself  to  the  dignity  and  honor  which  it  once 
possessed — must  be  bold  in  defence,  and  if  need  be,  bold  in 
aggression.  [Great  applause.]  If  it  will  do  its  duty  to 
itself,  if  it  will  do  its  duty  to  the  profession  which  it  fol- 
lows, and  to  which  it  is  devoted,  the  Bar  can  do  everything 
else.  It  can  have  reformed  constitutions,  it  can  have  a  re- 
formed judiciary,  it  can  have  the  administration  of  justice 
made  pure  and  honorable,  and  can  restore  both  the  judiciary 
and  the  Bar,  until  it  shall  be  once  more,  as  it  formerly  was, 
an  honorable  and  an  elevated  calling.  [Applause.]  I  do 
not  know,  sir,  in  what  form  this  is  to  be  done.  I  do  not 
know  in  what  form  this  institution,  which  you  are  now 
initiating,  is  to  establish  itself.  I  have  had  no  part  in  any 
preliminary  consultation,  but  I  am  sure  that  you  are  right 
in  taking  the  first  step  to-night,  which  is,  to  organize  your- 
selves into  a  body,  and  then,  without  passion,  without  pre- 
conception, with  deliberation,  with  fixed  purpose,  with 
settled  design,  I  believe  that  you  may  go  forward  step  by 
step,  through  the  days  and  years  that  are  in  the  future,  and 
become  a  blessing  to  this  great  community  of  which  you  are 
a  part.  [Applause.] 

Sir,  the  City  of  New  York  is  the  commercial  and  mone- 
tary capital  of  this  continent.  If  it  would  remain  so,  it 
must  establish  an  elevated  character  for  its  Bar,  and  a  repu- 
tation throughout  the  whole  country  for  purity  in  the 
administration  of  justice.  [Applause.]  I  had  lately  occa- 
sion to  express  the  opinion  in  private  which  I  now  repeat 
here  to-night,  that  it  is  impossible  for  New  York  to  remain 
the  centre  of  commerce  and  capital  for  this  continent,  unless 
it  has  an  independent  Bar  and  an  honest  Judiciary.  [Great 


22 


Applause.]  I  do  not  mean,  by  this  observation,  to  allude 
to  any  particular  individuals ;  still  less  do  I  mean  to  cast 
any  reflection  upon  the  general  character  of  the  Judiciary  of 
this  State.  But  I  felt,  in  1846,  when  we  embarked  in  that 
great  revolutionary  change  in  the  Judicial  system,  which 
was  made  by  the  constitution  of  that  year,  that  it  was  ex- 
tremely likely  that  the  system  itself  would  develop  evils 
under  which  human  society  could  not  well  get  along.  I 
had  great  doubt  last  year  about  what  ought  to  be  done 
in  regard  to  the  Judicial  amendment  that  was  adopted. 
Considering  it  a  decided  and  valuable  improvement  as  to 
the  constitution  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  I  yet  reflected  that 
it  not  only  left  most  of  the  practical  evils  and  abuses  of  the 
Judicial  system  untouched,  but,  perhaps,  to  some  extent 
confirmed  them  in  existence,  and  that  there  was  great 
danger  in  the  adoption  of  it,  that  the  public  sentiment, 
especially  of  the  rural  districts,  would  be  satisfied  to  such 
an  extent  that  we  should  be  compelled  to  live  under  this 
Judicial  system  another  quarter  of  a  century,  which  for  you 
Mr.  Chairman,  and  me,  will  probably  be  the  most  part  of 
the  residue  of  our  lives.  [Laughter.]  Sir,  I  believe  that  this 
country  is  to-night  at  about  the  lowest  point  in  the  great  cycle 
which  we  have  occasionally  to  traverse.  I  believe  that  there 
will  come  a  sounder  and  a  better  public  sentiment,  in  which 
speculation,  and  gambling,  and  jobbing  and  corruption  will 
lose  their  power,  and  in  which  free  government  will  vindi- 
cate its  right  to  the  confidence  of  mankind.  If  I  did  not 
believe  this,  I  should  think  that  a  very  great  part  of  my 
own  life  was  lost,  and  all  the  traditions  I  have  derived  from 
my  ancestors.  Sir,  I  hope  that  the  society  which  you 
organize  to-night  will  be  an  institution  that  shall  do  much 
valuable  service  towards  hastening  this  consummation,  so 
far  as  the  Bar  is  concerned.  [Renewed  applause.] 


23 


REMAEKS  OF  E.  W.  STOUGHTON,  Esq. 

I  did  not  come  here  to-night  intending  to  say  a  single 
word,  for  I  had  supposed  that  this  meeting  would  devote 
itself  to  the  business,  simply,  of  preparing,  considering  and 
passing  the  resolutions  which  I  have  heard  read ;  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  a  more  proper  time  to  consider  somewhat 
at  large  the  matters  in  which  we  are  all  interested,  would 
be  when  we  come  together  for  the  purpose  of  finally  con- 
summating and  forming  the  organization  which  it  is  the 
purpose  of  this  meeting  finally  to  establish. 

Now,  I  have  heard  it  said  here  that  the  ultimate  purpose 
of  this  organization  will  be  to  make  us  a  profession ;  but 
let  me  tell  the  gentlemen  who  are  present — most  of  whom 
I  know,  many  of  whom  I  regard  with  affection,  and  all  of 
whom  I  respect — that  to  make  ours  a  profession  in  the  true 
sense,  they  must  disenthral  the  Bar  from  the  law  which  per- 
mits, nay  enforces,  the  admission  as  members  of  persons  who 
are  not,  by  the  length  or  character  of  their  studies,  fitted 
for  it. 

This  is  done  under  a  law  of  the  land — unknown  until 
within  the  last  few  years  ;  for  we  remember  that  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years  ago — during  that  period  in  the  history 
of  our  profession  which  made  it  so  illustrious — students 
were  required  to  pursue  their  legal  studies  in  all  cases  for  a 
stated  period  of  years,  before  being  admitted  as  attorneys, 
and  were  not  then  permitted  to  open  their  mouths  in  court, 
until  they  had  practised  as  such  during  three  years ;  but  now  I 
believe — we  see  it  so  advertised  upon  the  leaves  of  our  legal 
periodicals — that  persons  may  be  admitted,  in  one  law  school, 
not  very  far  distant  from  our  city,  without  previous  exami- 
nation, and  after  passing  four  terms — in  all  somewhat  less 
than  a  year  within  the  institution — are  entitled  to  admission, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  under  the  laws  of  our  State.  Now, 
gentlemen,  if  we  are  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  qualifi- 
cations and  fitness  of  members  of  our  profession  we  should 
be  able  to  control  their  admission  to  our  Bar — a  right  which 


24 


substantially  existed  in  this  State,  under  the  rules  of  court, 
before  the  change  I  have  mentioned, — a  right  which  exists 
in  Great  Britain  at  this  day,  and  one  which  exists,  and  is 
recognized  in  most  if  not  all  of  the  New  England  States — 
a  right  to  determine  who  shall  be  admitted  and  who  shall 
be  expelled,  and  for  what.  If  we  secure  this,  gentlemen, 
then  we  shall  indeed  become  a  profession,  as  the  practition- 
ers of  medicine  and  of  theology  are  a  profession — for  I  be- 
lieve they  control  the  admission  of  their  members,  deter- 
mine what  their  qualifications  shall  be,  how  long  they  shall 
study,  and  on  what  conditions  they  shall  be  admitted. 

Further,  it  seems  to  me,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  we  should 
practically  consider  another  question.  We  need  a  library. 
The  younger  members  of  our  Bar  especially,  need  a  library 
in  a  place  where  it  shall  be  easily  accessible ;  and  I  believe 
that  those  of  us  who  take  an  interest  in  that  subject  will  be 
quick  upon  the  formation  of  this  organization,  to  provide  a 
building  and  a  library  where  gentlemen  of  our  profession 
may  meet  labor,  and  associate  together  and  come  to  know 
each  other  better  than  they  now  do ;  and  I  for  one  shall 
rejoice  to  see  that  brought  about.  But  I  confess,  that  in  my 
judgment,  the  time  for  talking  about  determining  what  is 
to  be  accomplished  by  this  organization  is  yet  some  little 
distance  in  the  future.  In  respect,  however,  to  the  practice 
of  our  Courts  and  Judges,  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
let  me  say  this,  Judges  should  be  protected  by  the  law. 
They  should  be  protected  by  the  law  so  that  no  Judge, 
under  any  circumstances,  can  be  required  to  grant  an  ex 
parte  injunction;  they  should  be  protected  under  the  law  so 
that  under  no  circumstances  shall  they  be  required  to  appoint 
receivers  ex  parte.  [Applause.] 

Now,  I  have  heard  it  said  that  a  general  rule  like  that 
would  breed  mischiefs.  I  agree  to  it,  but  they  would  be 
trifles  in  comparison  with  the  great  mischiefs  which  exist 
under  a  practice  which  sanctions  the  granting  of  injunctions 
and  the  appointing  of  receivers  by  the  hundred  and  the  thou- 
sand— in  substance,  levying  black  mail  upon  parties  who  pre- 


25 


fer,  rather  than  have  their  property  tied  up  by  injunctions  and 
receivers,  to  yield  to  demands  which  are  neither  just  nor 
maintainable.  [Applause.]  Now,  I  make  these  remarks 
in  kindness  to  our  Judges.  The  Federal  Judges  are  pro- 
tected in  that  way.  Since  1791  no  Federal  Judge  has 
been  permitted,  within  this  broad  land,  to  grant  an  injunc- 
tion ex  parte  ;  and  I  hope  the  day  will  come  when  we  shall 
protect  our  State  Judges  against  false  and  sinister  affidavits 
and  applications,  so  that  when  thus  applied  to  they  may  be 
able  to  say :  "  The  Law  forbids  this  and  we  refuse  it." 
But  until  that  time  comes  it  is  the  right  of  the  party  to  have 
his  ex  parte  injunction,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Judge  to 
grant  it,  and  I  leave  it  to  my  brethren  to  say  how  many 
injunctions  thus  obtained  stand  the  test  of  opposing  affidavits 
and  resisting  arguments.  [Applause.] 

REMARKS  OF  WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS,  Esq. 

I  suppose,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  every  one  of  the  gentlemen 
here  to-night  is  as  much  a  mover  in  this  effort  to  combine 
the  Bar  for  useful  purposes  of  interest,  as  any  other.  So 
far  as  I  have  made  the  subject  a  matter  of  conversation 
with  my  brethren  of  the  Bar,  with  more  or  less  of  point  in 
the  conversation,  during  the  last  seven  or  eight  years,  I  have 
found  no  difference  of  feeling  and  none  of  purpose  ;  and  I 
believe  all  that  has  been  needed  has  been  that  some  should 
take  the  responsibility  and  labor  of  collecting  the  sentiment 
of  their  brethren,  as  has  been  done  by  those  who  have  signed 
the  call  for  this  meeting,  to  ensure  an  honest,  a  sincere,  a 
brave,  a  considerate,  a  determined,  a  persistent,  and  an  ab- 
solutely fearless,  organization  of  the  Bar  of  New  York. 
[Applause.]  I  think  there  is  nowhere  in  this  matter  to  be 
seen,  feared  or  suspected,  a  sinister,  a  selfish,  a  personal  ob- 
ject either  in  respect  to  protection,  defence,  elevation,  or 
attack ;  it  is  all  public,  all  general,  all  noble  and  useful. 
Now,  there  have  been  felt,  I  think,  to  be  several  considera- 
tions which  should  induce  the  Bar,  as  scholars,  as  gentlemen 
4 


26 


in  a  common  pursuit  of  life,  to  combine  their  influence  and 
the   contributions  of  their  resources,  in  a  way  which  will 
afford  us  opportunities  for  the  research  and  study  which  our 
profession  requires,  and  for  the  consultation  and  communion 
with  each  other  so  important  to  it.     I  think  we  have  all 
felt  that  to  be  a  great,  a  numerous,  a  wealthy  Bar,  without 
a  library  adequate  to  our  name,  and  suitable  to  our  credit, 
without  the  means  of  association   in  the  ordinary  forms  of 
intercourse  on  common  grounds,  during  the  hours  of  the  day 
when   we  have  any  leisure  or  opportunity  for  such  inter- 
course, was  not  only  a  reproach  to  us,  but  an  injury  to  us. 
Without  any  special  moral  occasion,  or  any  particular  incen- 
tive of  public  duty  in  the  public  need,    I   think  that  in  the 
minds  of  many  there  has  been  a  purpose,  whenever  oppor- 
tunity should  serve  or  attention  could  be   commanded,  to 
induce  a  combination  of  the  profession  with  such  an  object. 
I  hope,  sir,  that  this  committee  will  consider  these  objects 
as  a  part  of  the  organization  proposed,  and  which  must  have 
sufficient  of  a  substantial  and  acceptable  interest  to  its  mem- 
bers to  keep  us  closely  and  permanently  connected.     [Ap- 
plause.]    With  this  general  object  and  motive  for  combina- 
tion, there  is  a  more  powerful  and  deeper,  a  more  responsible 
and  a  more  active  sentiment,  growing  out  of  the  condition 
of  our  profession  and  of  the  judiciary,  and  of  the  sentiments 
of  this  community  towards  both.     Careless  we  have  been, 
careless   almost  all  the  interests  of  society  have  been,  of 
the   great   and   perpetual   trust    which   rests   upon    every 
generation  in   a   free   and   equal    community   to   see   that 
they  bear  their  share  ever,  not  only  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
noble  heritage  that  has  come  to  us,  but  in  its  maintenance, 
its  protection  and  its  defence,  and  that  they  shall  transmit 
it  ever,  not  only  unimpaired,  but  amplified — not  only  unpol- 
luted,  but  ever  brighter  and  fairer,  to  every  succeeding 
generation.     [Applause.]     And  we  must  not  lose  sight  of 
this  fact,  that  just  in  proportion  as  a  society  is  free  and 
equal  in   its  constitution,  just  as  there  are  no  artificial  and 
no  permanent  gradations  in  it,  just  as  there  are  no  rulers 


27 

and  no  captains,  just  so  is  it  the  more  incumbent  upon  all  in 
the  only  rank  there  is— the  common  rank — to  see  that  they 
do  not  become  selfish  and  isolated  and  envious  and  injuri- 
ous, but  that  they  cultivate  sentiments  of  common  purpose 
for  the  common  interests.  In  institutions  framed  in  this 
spirit  must  ever  be  the  only  form  of  power  that  an  eqaal 
and  free  community  can  tolerate:  and  every  institution 
must  take  care  of  itself,  and  not  leave  to  the  enterprise  of 
its  competitors  and  rivals  the  building  up  of  itself. 

Now,  with  these  general  observations,  let  us  see  how 
much  the  Bar  can  do  for  its  own  credit,  its  own  power  and 
the  service  of  the  community,  and  how  much  it  can  do 
towards  maintaining  the  credit  and  character  of  the  Judi- 
ciary— that  weakest  portion  of  our  political  system,  that 
portion  that  has,  or  should  have,  no  patronage  or  influence 
and  no  political  authority,  which  is  dependent  upon  its  in- 
tegrity, its  learning,  its  capacity,  its  public  spirit,  and 
which  must  ever  rest  upon  the  Bar,  as  the  chief  interpreters 
to  the  people  at  large  of  its  relation  to  the  community,  and 
as  the  principal  means  and  agency  by  which  it  discharges 
its  judicial  duties  in  all  its  obligations  to  that  community. 
For  the  Judiciary  is  not  a  spontaneous  agency  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  It  never  does  anything  solemn  or 
ex  parte,  except  by  the  invitation — the  instigation,  if  it  be 
evil — of  a  lawyer.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  Now,  is  it 
fair  that  the  Judiciary  of  this  State  should  stand  in  the 
general  doubt,  or  general  discontent,  or  general  disregard 
of  the  community  ?  that  it  should  be  subject  to  aspersion 
and  to  suspicion,  and  not  feel,  or  be  permitted  to  plead, 
that  some  lawyer  was  the  first  mover  in  every  wrongful 
act  of  that  Judiciary  that  brought  it  thus  into  contempt  ? 
Who  does  not  reverence  the  Judiciary  ?  Who  does  not, 
in  the  midst  of  the  pressure,  the  excitement,  the  credit, 
the  honor,  the  emoluments — opened  so  richly  to  prosper- 
ous'lawyers  here — respect  every  man  who  takes  a  place 
upon  the  Bench,  and  foregoes  these  bright  and  alluring 
invitations  to  fame  and  wealth  ?  And  who  but  feels  struck, 


28 


in  hisfown  sense  of  manhood  and  of  dignity,  when  the  Judi- 
ciary, which  is  the  crown  and  honor  of  his  profession,  is 
brought  into  disrepute?  And  who,  when  he  reflects  that 
his  own  profession  are  the  moving  parties  in  everything  that 
is  done  by  a  Judge,  good  or  ill,  but  feels  that  it  is  time 
for  him  to  collect  the  honorable  and  upright  and  worthy 
men  of  his  profession  together,  that  they  may  put  their 
finger  upon  the  unworthy  who  take  the  lead,  under  what- 
ever motives,  in  these  injurious  and  weakening  courses  or 
proceedings  ?  [Applause.]  Why,  Mr.  Chairman,  you  and 
I  can  remember  perfectly  well  (and  we  are  not  very  old 
men),  when,  for  a  lawyer  to  come  out  from  the  chambers  of 
a  Judge  with  an  ex  parte  writ  that  he  could  not  defend  be- 
fore the  public,  before  the  profession  and  before  the  Court, 
would  have  occasioned  the  same  sentiment  toward  him  as  if 
he  came  out  with  a  stolen  pocket-book.  [Great  applause.] 
Our  knowledge  of  the  profession  and  of  the  affairs  of  life 
teach  us  that  from  the  other  side  we  get  new  light  and  new 
wisdom,  and  then  comes  the  solemn  action  of  the  Court,  and 
we  meet  our  adversaries,  our  brethren,  face  to  face  before 
the  Judge ;  but  as  to  what  passes  between  the  Judge  and 
us  ex  parte,  it  is  upon  honor.  [Applause.]  Sir  Jonah  Bar- 
rington,  in  his  Recollections  of  the  Irish  Bar,  tells  us,  that 
this  sense  of  honor  and  right,  so  far  as  depended  upon  the 
personal  knowledge  and  skill  of  the  lawyers  engaged  in  any 
cause,  was  carried  to  such  aa  extreme,  that  if  a  man  de- 
murred to  a  pleading  at  that  Bar,  it  was  considered  a  good 
ground  for  a  challenge,  as  being  an  imputation  upon  the 
ability  or  the  integrity  of  the  pleader,  and  he  says  that 
many  duels  were  fought  upon  that  ground.  But,  without 
sharing  this  extravagance,  really,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  I 
have  not  exaggerated  this  matter  of  the  duty  and  responsi- 
bility of  the  Bar  in  its  dealings  with  the  Bench. 

Now,  perhaps,  I  have  said  enough,  but  I  will  add  that 
the  situation  is  an  extremely  serious  one.  It  is  very  difficult 
to  make  people  believe,  but  still  it  is  true,  that  if  an  institu- 
tion contains  corruption,  and  the  line  is  not  drawn  closely 


29 


to  sever  it  at  once  from  the  sound  body,  however  honest, 
however  earnest  may  be  the  purpose  of  the  worthy  members, 
the  plague-spot  is  in  the  body,  and  the  whole  is  sick.  The 
disease  is  not  local.  It  may  be  cured ;  but  while  the  plague- 
spot  lasts,  the  whole  body  suffers.  The  institution  is  sus- 
pected, the  distinction  between  the  members  is  not  and 
cannot  be  known.  I  speak  now  of  the  Bar  quite  as  much 
as  I  do  of  the  Judiciary,  and  it  is  only  when  you  attempt  to 
make  a  rally  of  the  powers  left,  to  make  the  issue,  that 
there  shall  be  no  disease,  no  corruption  and  710  base  asper- 
sions without  foundation,  and  that  it  shall  not  be  permitted 
for  men  to  scoff  without  cause  at  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, either  through  the  Bench  or  by  the  Bar,  and  make  it 
plain,  one  way  or  the  other,  that  the  institutions  are  pure 
and  strong,  or,  that  they  are  vicious  and  corrupt — it  is  only 
by  that  rally,  that  we  can  restore  health  and  strength,  and 
confidence.  And  that  is  the  purpose  of  this  rally  to-night. 
—[Applause.]  It  is  aimed  at  no  other  object  than  the  evil 
itself — to  ascertain  it,  to  measure  it,  to  correct  it,  and  re- 
store the  honor,  integrity  and  fame  of  the  profession  in  its 
two  manifestations  of  the  Bench  and  of  the  Bar. — [Prolong- 
ed applause.] 

REMARKS  OF  D.  B.  BATON,  Esq. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  submit  any  ob- 
servations upon  the  general  subject  which  has  called  us 
together.  No  one  can  take  a  deeper  interest  than  I  do  in 
the  results  of  this  meeting,  or  feel  more  gratified  at  the 
spirit  of  earnestness,  conciliation  and  harmony  which  has 
been  so  strikingly  and  hopefully  exhibited.  I  have  been 
requested,  by  the  gentlemen  who  have  devoted  themselves 
with  so  much  self-sacrifice  to  bring  about  this  meeting,  to 
offer  a  resolution,  which  is  in  consonance  with  what  we 
have  done,  and  which,  as  I  trust,  will  contribute  to  secure 
the  results  which  I  am  sure  we  all  seek.  While  I  am  cer- 
tain that  the  sentiment  pervading  this  gathering  is  so  har- 


30 


monious  that  if  each  person  present  should  state  in  writing 
for  what  reason  he  came  here,  and  what  are  the  leading 
objects  he  wishes  to  accomplish,  we  should  find  no  very 
material  differences  in  these  statements,  it  would  yet 
doubtless  be  found  that  there  is  much  diversity  in  details, 
that  there  are  different  theories  as  to  the  best  method  of 
organization. 

It  must  also  be  apparent  that  the  early  stages  of  an  or- 
ganization such  as  we  propose  are  likely  to  be  the  most 
difficult,  and  we  do  not  start  with  the  benefit  of  any  expe- 
rience in  organized  action  on  the  part  of  the  members  of 
this  Bar.  This  generation,  at  least,  of  New  York  Lawyers 
has  not  been  in  the  habit  of  acting  in  common  in  reference 
to  such  matters  as  are  now  likely  to  engage  our  attention. 

Our  habits  and  relations  have  mostly  been  those  of  oppo- 
sition to  each  other  in  representing  the  conflicting  interests 
of  our  clients.  We  now,  for  the  first  time,  propose  to 
cooperate  together  in  elevating  our  profession  to  the  position 
which  it  should  occupy  to  best  enable  us  to  promote  alike 
the  private  interests  of  those  who  employ  us,  and  the  public 
interests  of  the  whole  community.  And  it  is  one  of  the 
happy  features  of  our  enterprise  that  the  organization  and 
action  which  will  enable  us  to  attain  these  ends  will  con- 
tribute to  our  personal  consideration  and  to  our  usefulness 
in  the  administration  of  justice  in  our  capacities  as  officers 
of  the  Court.  It  is  one  of  the  felicities  on  which  we  may 
congratulate  each  other,  that  the  discharge  of  our  duty  to 
ourselves  will  be  in  great  measure  the  discharge  of  our  duty 
to  the  judicial  tribunals,  to  the  State,  and  to  our  clients. 

The  resolution  already  adopted  will  give  us  a  Committee 
to  frame  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws  under  which  we 
shall  act.  But  we  need  officers  to  fill  the  official  places  and 
committees  under  the  Constitution.  We  need  men,  carefully 
selected,  who  will  be  willing  to  give  us  the  time,  the  labor, 
the  patience,  the  spirit  of  conciliation,  and  who  will  make 
for  us  the  generous  self-sacrifices,  which  the  first  year  of 
this  new  experiment  in  organized  action  cannot  fail  to  de- 
mand. We  want  men  who  have  faith  in  our  work,  who 


31 


will  bring  courage  to  its  execution,  and  who,  at  the  same 
time,  fairly  represent  the  wishes,  the  opinions,  the  ability, 
and  the  character  of  the  profession,  on  which  we  must  rely  to 
sustain  this  organization.  Delicate  duties  must  be  performed 
in  respect  of  membership,  contributions,  and  other  matters. 
Wisdom,  confidence,  justice,  and  courage  will  all  be  de- 
manded. There  must  be  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
managers,  and  confidence  in  the  managers.  The  selection 
of  our  first  official  force  should  be  a  deliberate,  well  consi- 
dered act,  and  cannot  well  be  performed  in  a  large  gathering 
like  this.  But  the  Chair,  if  we  authorise  him,  can  select 
some  gentlemen  from  this  gathering,  who  will  wisely  do  it 
for  us ;  and  I  beg,  therefore,  to  offer  the  following 
resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  nine  be  named  by  the 
"  Chairman,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  report  to  an  adjourned 
"  meeting  the  names  of  suitable  persons  to  be  elected  as  the 
"  first  officers  of  this  organization,  and  that  this  Committee 
"  confer  with  the  Committee  on  the  Constitution." 

This  resolution  was  seconded  and  carried  unanimously. 

The  Chair  announced  the  appointment  of  the  following 
Committees,  in  pursuance  of  the  resolutions  already  adopt- 
ed :— 

Committee  on  Constitution  and  By-Laws, 


HENRY  NICOLL, 
SAMUEL  J.  TILDEN, 
JAMES  EMOTT, 
ALBERT   MATHEWS, 


HAMILTON  W.  ROBINSON 
JAMES  C.  CARTER, 
CHARLES  A.  RAPALLO, 
AUGUSTUS  F.  SMITH. 


STEPHEN  P.  NASH. 

Committee  on  Nomination  of  Officers, 


DORMAN  B.  EATON, 
WILLIAM  H.  PRITCHARD, 
GILBERT  M.  SPIER, 
E.  L.  FANCHER, 


JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE, 
EDMUND  R.  ROBINSON, 
ABRAHAM  R.  LAWRENCE, 
ALBERT  STICKNEY, 


CHARLES  F.  BLAKE. 

Iu  pursuance  of  a  resolution  offered  and  adopted,  the 
Chair  then   declared  the  meeting  adjourned. 


REPORT  OF  FURTHER  PROCEEDINGS. 


At  an  adjourned  meeting,  held  on  Tuesday  evening,  Feb. 
15th,  1870,  the  Committee  on  the  Constitution  reported  a 
draft  Constitution  and  By-laws.  A  motion  was  made  and 
carried  that  the  meeting  proceed  immediately  to  debate  and 
vote  seriatim  upon  each  article  of  the  Constitution  reported 
by  the  Committee.  After  a  prolonged  debate  upon  the 
various  articles,  the  Constitution  and  By-laws,  as  subjoined, 
and  substantially  as  reported  by  the  Committee,  were 
adopted. 

The  Committee  on  Nominations  then  made  its  report,  and 
the  meeting  having  proceeded  to  ballot,  the  following  officers 
were  elected  : 


WILLIAM   M.   EVARTS. 


SAMUEL  J.  TILDEN, 
JAMES  W.  GERARD, 


JOS.  S.  BOSWORTH, 
JOHN  SLOSSON, 


EDGAR  S.   VAN  WINKLE. 


ALBON  P.  MAN. 


JOHN  BIGELOW. 


AUGUSTUS  R.  MACDONOUGH. 


HENRY  NICOLL, 
HAMILTON  W.  ROBINSON, 
AUGUSTUS  F.  SMITH, 
WILLIAM  E.  CURTIS, 
WILLIAM  C.  BARRETT, 
JAMES  EMOTT, 
CHAS.  A.  RAPALLO, 


STEPHEN  P.  NASH, 
SAMUEL  B.  GARV1N, 
SIDNEY  WEBSTER, 
JAMES  C.  CARTER, 
JOHN  E.  PARSONS, 
WILLIAM  G.  CIIOATE, 
FRANCIS  C.  BARLOW, 


HENRY  A.  TALLER. 


34 


HENRY  A.  CRAM, 
CHARLES  F.  SOUTHMAYD, 
SAMUEL  E.  LYON, 
JOHN  E.  BURRILL, 
RICHARD  H.  BOWNE, 
THEODORE  W.  DWIGHT, 
HOOPER  C.  VAN  VORST, 
JOHN  C.  DIMMICK, 
JOHN  M.  KNOX, 
GROSVENOR  P.  LOWREY, 


FREDERICK  KAPP, 
WHEELER  H.  PECKHAM, 
C.  A.  HAND, 
FREDERICK  SMYTH, 
JAMES  W.  GERARD,  JR., 

JOSEPH  LAROCQUE, 
GEORGE  DEFOREST  LORD, 
CHARLES  M.  DA  COSTA, 
EDMUND  WETMORE, 
ELBRIDGE  T.  GERRY. 


Mr.  E.  R.  ROBINSON  offered  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  adopted,  stating  at  the  same  time  that  the  money 
mentioned  therein  had  been  provided  for : 

Whereas,  On  Saturday.  Feb.  12,  an  attempt  was  made 
upon  the  life  of  DORMAN  B.  EATON,  under  circumstances 
which  lead  to  the  belief  that  the  attempt  was  instigated  by 
private  malice : 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  of  this  Associa- 
tion be  instructed  to  offer  through  the  proper  authorities  a 
reward  of  $5,000  for  the  apprehension  and  conviction  of  the 
person  or  persons  engaged  in  such  attempt,  to  be  paid  on 
conviction. 

JUDGE  SLOSSON  next  offered  the  following,  which  were 
likewise  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  instructed  to 
prepare  a  suitable  address  to  the  members  of  the  Bar  of  the 
City  and  State  of  New  York,  stating  the  formation  and  ob- 
jects of  this  Association,  and  requesting  their  co-operation 
and  suggesting  the  formation  of  similar  associations  through- 
out the  State. 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  instructed  to 
have  the  proceedings  of  the  first  meeting  printed  in  pamphlet 
form,  together  with  the  Constitution  and  By-laws  adopted, 
and  the  names  of  the  officers  elected,  and  to  send  a  copy  to 
each  member  of  this  Association  and  to  such  members  of  the 
Bar  in  this  and  the  other  States  of  the  Union  as  may  seem 
expedient. 

The  meeting  was  then  adjourned  to  the  first  quarterly 
meeting  as  provided,  by  the  Constitution,  viz. :  the  second 
Tuesday  of  March,  next  following. 


COIsTSTITUTIOIsr, 

(As  adopted  Feb.  15.  1870.) 


ARTICLE   I. 

This  Association  shall  be  called  the  "  The  Bar  Association  of 
the  City  of  New  York." 

ARTICLE  II. 

The  Association  is  established  to  maintain  the  honor  and 
dignity  of  the  profession  of  the  law,  to  cultivate  social  inter- 
course among  its  members  and  to  increase  its  usefulness  in  pro- 
moting the  due  administration  of  justice. 

ARTICLE  III. 

SECTION  I. 

The  members  of  the  Bar  who  signed  the  preliminary  articles 
are  hereby  declared  to  be  members  of  this  Association,  but  such 
of  them  as  shall  omit  to  subscribe  to  this  Constitution,  and  pay 
the  admission  fee,  on  or  before  the  15th  day  of  March  next, 
shall  cease  to  be  members,  and  can  only  become  such  by  subse- 
quent admission. 

Any  member  of  the  profession,  in  good  standing,  residing  or 
practising  in  the  City  of  New  York,  may  become  a  member,  by 
vote  of  the  Association,  on  recommendation  of  the  Committee 
on  Admissions  as  hereinafter  provided,  and  on  subscribing  to 
this  Constitution  and  paying  the  admission  fee. 

SECTION  n. 

The  Committee  on  Admissions  shall  have  power  to  make 
such  regulations  in  relation  to  proposals  for  membership  and 
notice  thereof,  and  as  they  may,  from  time  to  time  deem  need- 


36 


ful.  Candidates  against  whom  there  shall  be  five  negative  votes 
in  the  Committee  shall  not  be  recommended  for  admission. 
Upon  being  recommended,  a  vote  by  ballot  shall  be  taken  in  the 
Association,  and  one  negative  vote  in  every  five  shall  exclude 
the  candidate. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

OFFICERS. 

The  Officers  of  the  Association  shall  be  a  President,  five  Vice- 
Presidents,  a  Recording  Secretary,  a  Corresponding  Secretary 
and  a  Treasurer.  There  shall  also  be  an  Executive  Committee  of 
fifteen  members,  of  which  Committee  the  President  shall,  ex 
officio,  be  a  member ;  and  a  Committee  on  Admissions,  to  con- 
sist of  twenty  members.  These  Officers  and  Committees  shall  be 
elected  at  the  Annual  Meeting  to  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday 
of  January  in  each  year.  The  Association  may  provide  by  its 
By-laws  for  such  other  Standing  Committees  as  it  may  deem 
necessary. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  be  vested  with  the  title  to  all 
the  property  of  the  Association  until  it  may  be  incorporated,  as 
Trustees  thereof,  and  shall  manage  its  affairs,  subject  to  the 
Constitution  and  By-laws ;  they  shall  provide  a  permanent  place 
for  the  use  of  the  Association,  and  shall  appropriate  such  sums 
as  they  may  deem  fit  for  a  Library  and  Reading  Room. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

A  Library  Committee,  to  consist  of  five  members,  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  Executive  Committee,  to  hold  office  during 
their  pleasure,  and,  subject  to  then-  directions,  shall  have  charge 
of  the  Library  and  Reading  Room,  with  power  to  expend  upon 
the  same  such  moneys  as  may  be  appropriated  by  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  or  procured  by  voluntary  subscription. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

The  Judges  of  the  Courts  of  the  United  States,  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  of  all  other  Courts  of 
Record  of  the  State  of  New  York,  shall  have  the  use  of  the 
Library  and  Reading  Room  of  this  Association,  without  the 
payment  of  fees. 


37 


ARTICLE  VIII. 

MEETINGS    OF   THE    ASSOCIATION. 

There  shall  be  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  on  the 
second  Tuesday  of  January,  and  other  stated  meetings  on  the 
second  Tuesdays  of  March,  June  and  November  in  each  year. 
At  these  stated  meetings,  and  at  any  regular  adjourned  meeting 
thereof,  all  the  powers  of  the  Association  may  be  exercised. 
Special  meetings  may  be  called  at  any  time  by  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  shall  be  called  upon  the  written  request  of 
twenty  members. 

At  such  special  meetings  no  business  shall  be  transacted  ex- 
cept such  as  shall  be  specified  in  the  call  thereof.  The  presence 
of  fifty  members,  in  addition  to  such  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee  as  may  be  present,  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a 
quorum  at  any  meeting  of  the  Association . 

ARTICLE  IX. 

ADMISSION    AND    ANNUAL    FEES. 

The  admission  fee  shall  be  Fifty  Dollars,  to  be  paid  on  signing 
the  Constitution. 

The  annual  dues  shall  be  Forty  Dollars,  payable  half-yearly,  on 
the  first  days  of  May  and  November,  each  year ;  and  any  mem- 
ber in  default,  after  thirty  days  notice,  shall  cease  to  be  a  mem- 
ber, unless  excused  by  order  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

In  case  of  members  of  less  than  six  years  standing  at  the  Bar, 
the  Executive  Committee  may,  until  they  shall  have  attained 
that  standing,  give  them  a  credit  for  one-half  their  initiation 
fee,  and  remit  one-half  their  annual  dues. 

ARTICLE  X. 

Any  member  of  the  Association  may  be  suspended  or  expelled 
for  misconduct  in  his  relations  to  this  Association  or  in  his  pro- 
fession, on  conviction  thereof  in  such  manner  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  By-laws,  and  all  interest  in  the  property  of  the 
Association,  of  persons  resigning  or  otherwise  ceasing  to  be 
members,  shall  vest  in  the  Association. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

This  Constitution  shall  go  into  immediate  effect  and  an  elec- 


38 


tion  of  Officers  and  Committees,  herein  provided  for,  shall  forth- 
with be  had.  They  shall  hold  their  offices  until  their  successors 
are  elected  at  the  annual  meeting,  on  the  Second  Tuesday  in 
January,  1871. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

All  elections  shall  be  by  ballot.  The  Officers  elected  shall 
enter  upon  their  duties  immediately  upon  their  election,  and 
shall  hold  office  until  their  successors  are  elected  or  ap- 
pointed. 

In  case  of  a  vacancy  in  any  office,  it  shall  be  filled  by  appoint- 
ment of  the  Executive  Committee,  until  the  next  annual  elec- 
tion. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  a  two-third  vote  of  the 
members  present  at  any  stated  meeting  of  the  Association,  pro- 
vided that  notice  of  the  proposed  amendment,  subscribed  by  ten 
members,  be  given  at  a  previous  meeting. 


I. 

THE    PRESIDENT    AND    VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  Association, 
and  in  case  of  his  absence,  any  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents,  who 
shall  be  then  chosen  without  ballot,  shall  preside. 

II. 

THE  RECORDING  SECRETARY. 

The  Recording  Secretary  shall  keep  a  record  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  all  meetings  and  of  all  other  matters  of  which  a  record 
shall  be  deemed  advisable  by  the  Association. 

He  shall  notify  the  Officers  and  members  of  their  election,  and 
shall  keep  a  roll  of  the  members,  and  shall  issue  notices  of  all 
meetings. 

THE  CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  conduct  the  correspondence 
of  the  Association  with  the  concurrence  of  the  President. 

IV. 

THE    TREASURER. 

The  Treasurer  shall  collect,  and,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  disburse,  all  funds  of  the  Association ;  he 
shall  report  annually  and  oftener,  if  required ;  he  shall  keep 
regular  accounts,  which  shall  be,  at  all  times,  open  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  any  member  of  the  Executive  Committee.  His  accounts 
shall  be  audited  by  a  Committee  of  three  members  of  the  Associ- 
ation to  be  elected  by  ballot,  at  the  stated  meeting  preceding 
the  annual  meeting  in  each  year. 

V. 

MEETINGS    OF   THE    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  meet  at  least  once  a  month, 
except  in  July,  August  and  September.  They  shall  have  power 


40 


to  make  such  regulations  not  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution 
and  By-Laws,  as  shall  be  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Association,  and  for  the  preservation  of  good  order 
in  the  conduct  of  its  aifairs. 

They  shall  keep  a  record  of  their  proceedings,  which  shall  be 
read  at  the  ensuing  meeting  of  the  Association  ;  arid  it  shall  be 
their  duty  to  present  business  for  the  action  of  the  Association. 
They  shall  have  no  power  to  make  the  Association  liable  for 
any  debts  amounting  to  more  than  half  of  the  amount  in  the 
Treasurer's  hands,  in  cash,  and  not  subject  to  prior  liabilities  ; 
nor  shall  they  have  power  to  make  any  contract  binding  per- 
sonally upon  members  of  the  Association. 

VI. 

At  each  stated  meeting  of  the  Association,  the  order  of  busi- 
ness shall  be  as  follows  : 

1.  Reading  of  minutes  of  preceding  meeting 

2.  Report  of  Executive  Committee. 

3.  Report  of  the  Treasurer. 

4.  Reports  of  Special  Committees. 

5.  Miscellaneous  business. 

This  order  of  business  may  be  changed  by  a  vote  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the  members  present. 

The  usual  parliamentary  rules  and  orders  otherwise  than  are 
herein  provided,  shall  govern  all  meetings  of  the  Association 

VII. 

If  any  person  elected  does  not,  within  one  month  after  notice 
of  his  election,  signify  his  acceptance  by  signing  the  Constitu- 
tion and  By-Laws,  and  payment  of  his  admission  fee,  he  shall 
be  deemed  to  have  declined  to  become  a  member. 

VIII. 

These  By-Laws  may  be  amended,  at  any  stated  meeting  of 
the  Association,  by  vote  of  two-thirds  of  those  present ;  pro- 
vided that  ten  days'  notice,  in  writing,  of  the  proposed  amend- 
ment has  been  given  to  the  Executive  Committee. 


LAW  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF 

LOS  ANGELES 


A    nnQ412586    o 


